BOYS’ BASKETBALL REGIONAL PLAYOFFS : First-Round Pairings Stun Capistrano Valley

The Capistrano Valley boys’ basketball team, which won the Southern Section Division I-AA championship, will open Southern California Division I regional play Tuesday night at Poway.

When the pairings were announced Sunday at the State CIF office in La Mirada, Capistrano Valley Coach Mark Thornton said he was stunned to learn his team was seeded sixth in the eight-team field.

“I thought we would be seeded in the top four, figuring on No. 3 with a home game in the first round,” Thornton said. “We’re 28-3, with two losses to Mater Dei and one to Lynwood. We dominated Lynwood to win the CIF (Southern Section) championship and there’s five teams seeded ahead of us. It doesn’t make sense.

“We shouldn’t be going down there (to Poway), Poway should be coming to our gym. They’ve lost eight games and they’re seeded third? That doesn’t make sense to me.”

The top four seeds represent each of the four sections in Southern California and will play host to first-round games.

Mater Dei (31-1), the Southern Section Division I-A champion, is the top-seeded team and will play host to Lynwood (25-6) at Ocean View High School. Mater Dei has been ranked No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi sports most of the season.

Second-seeded Westchester (27-2) won the City Section Division 4-A championship and will play host to Riverside J.W. North (27-3) at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Third-seeded Poway (26-8) of the San Diego Section will play host to Capistrano Valley and fourth-seeded Clovis West (26-5) of the Central Section will play host to City Division 3-A champion Fremont (30-3).

Last year, the Southern Section’s Division I-AA champion, Long Beach Jordan, was seeded second in the regionals with a 22-7 record. Santa Barbara, Division I-A champion, was seeded third with a 26-5 record.

“I’d just like to know how they determined the seeds,” Thornton said. “Poway finished second in its league. Of course, I had a hard time figuring how Lynwood was seeded ahead of us when the (Southern Section) playoffs started.”

Trabuco Hills (25-5) was seeded third in the Division II regionals and drew a home game against Spring Valley Monte Vista (25-3) of the San Diego Section. As expected, Glendora (31-0) was top-seeded, followed by Del Mar Torrey Pines (27-3) of the San Diego Section.

If Trabuco Hills wins its first-round game, it probably will meet Glendora in the semifinals Thursday. Glendora is the only undefeated boys’ team in the five divisions.

Kennedy (23-7) was seeded eighth in the division and will travel to Torrey Pines for its opening-round game.

Estancia (23-7), seeded fourth in the Division III regionals, travels to the University of San Diego to play seventh-seeded University (9-17) Tuesday. Estancia, the defending State Division III champion, will try to duplicate last year’s feat of losing the sectional title and then winning the State title.

All semifinal games are scheduled for Thursday, with the championship games in Division I, II and III scheduled for Saturday at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.